Van Ness, the intimate associate of Aaron Burr and his second in the duel which resulted in the death of Alexander Hamilton. Washington Irving was a guest at Lindenwald during one period of which we ha\'e record, and not improbal:)l}' at other times. He is said to ha\'e niade there the acquaintance of the school-teacher, Jesse Merwin, who is credited with being the original of the character of Ichabod Crane in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Referring to this,

5IO The Hudson River

Mr. Harrold Van Santvoord, the author of Half Holidays, wrote, in 1898:

After the Skctch-Book was published it was feared that the caricature of Ichabod Crane would occasion strained relations between the honest schoolmaster and his friend. It was in a spirit of playful humour, such as that in which Butler burlesqued his host, Sir Samuel Luke, that Irving caricatured Jesse Merwin, and the pedagogue seemed to enjoy the grotesque humour of the portraiture as much as the author himself. In proof of his affection he named one of his sons after his early friend, who is still living, a prosperous farmer in Illinois. The remains of Merwin repose in the village cemetery, not far from the burial plot of Martin Van Buren. A few years ago the plain slab with its simple inscription, at the head of the grave, was replaced by a neat monument, and residents of the village take pride in exhibiting to strangers the grave of Ichabod Crane.

Coxsackie station, on the east side of the river, communicates byferry with the village of that name upon the opposite bank. The Iroquois Indians called that part of the shore by the descriptive name of Cut Banks (Kiixakcc), because along there the current made a marked depression. The older portion of the town lies well back from the water, having been built along the line of the post-road.